WASHINGTON -- In their penultimate game on Saturday, the Mets ran with an unorthodox defensive alignment, starting Brett Baty at shortstop for the first time in his career.
The idea was to give Baty, who began the day with four career innings at short (all late in games this season) a chance to become acclimated in the event that he’s needed there next season. Baty, who has played six defensive positions in his career, has spent much of this year rotating among first base, second base, third base and right field. Shortstop, which he played on a part-time basis in high school, only adds to his versatility.
“We all see in him the athleticism necessary to defend the field there,” manager Andy Green said.
To be clear, the Mets envision Francisco Lindor starting most games at short for them next season. But with Lindor entering his age-33 season, coming off a year in which he lost significant time to injury, the Mets want to guard against similar issues in the future. This weekend’s games at Nationals Park, with both teams out of contention, gave them an opportunity to experiment.
“This serves a purpose in ’27,” Green said.
When Lindor missed time this year, the Mets mostly used Bo Bichette and Ronny Mauricio at shortstop. But Bichette can opt out of his contract after the World Series and is slated to reprise his role at third base if he doesn’t. Mauricio, meanwhile, hasn’t hit much over 105 games in the Majors. He’s a long shot to crack the Mets’ 2027 Opening Day roster.
If Baty proves adept at shortstop both this weekend and into next spring, he will give the Mets additional flexibility, potentially even allowing them to build their roster without a true backup shortstop.
“From a roster construction perspective, as you look forward to the future,” Green said, “his ability to stand at short and defend the field when Francisco needs a rare day off gives us a lot of roster flexibility if it’s a viable solution.”
Baty has been a plus defender this season, according to both Outs Above Average and Defensive Runs Saved, the two most prominent publicly available metrics.
Part of the reason why this experiment intrigues Mets officials is because Baty has set himself up well to play a key role on the 2027 team. Entering Saturday’s play, Baty was slashing .283/.341/.506 since June 30, increasing his OPS more than 100 points over that stretch. He ranks in the 86th percentile in MLB in bat speed and in the 72nd percentile in average exit velocity.
“You look around baseball, and the best teams have someone like this who has the athleticism to do all of these things,” Green said. “He’s found a greater measure of comfort in doing all of these things as the year has gone on, and we’ve seen his bat wake up and get loud. And a loud bat for someone who can defend all over the field is incredibly invaluable.”